Well, I would update you on what I ate the last couple of days of the sugar-free challenge. But, there’s not much to report. It was basically different incarnations of banana – banana + almond milk + ice = smoothie; frozen, blended banana = ice cream. Really, that’s about it.

But, I think I turned a corner today. At least, I was hungry and wanted to try to eat something a little more substantial. So I scoured the internet and put together this tummy soothing concoction.

White rice is not a staple in my diet, anymore. But, it was our traditional “healing after sickness” first solid food. I tend to keep it around specifically for times like this – times when I need something easily digested and don’t particularly care so much about the nutritional benefits other than “give me some energy.” Cardamom and ginger – two members of the same family – have long been used for healing digestive issues – soothing yet flavorful. Cinnamon is high in antioxidants, and has traditionally been used to treat digestive issues. In more modern times, it has been shown to help regulate blood sugar – which helps to mitigate the effects of dumping all the relatively simple carbs of white rice into my system.

And, best of all, this meal is fast, fast, fast. Darn near instant, in fact.

Tummy Soothing Indian Spiced Rice

Indian Spiced Rice “Pudding”

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir constantly until mixture thickens. This only takes a few minutes. I like it thick. If you like it thinner, you can increase the liquid content. I topped mine with some almond milk, almonds and raisins. But, you can top it with whatever sounds good to you.Serves 2.

I have to admit, I was trying to avoid using dates for this sugar-free challenge. But, this whole food poisoning sort of threw me for a loop and I decided I should just try to eat whatever sounded good, short of eating straight-up sugar.

17 Responses to Indian Spiced Rice “Pudding”

That looks delicious, Deanna! I was doing great until my dog had an emergency today and then I caved and ate some chocolate. Sonny is going to be okay after the meds kick in though. I’ll be back at this tomorrow. Friday, I leave on vacation so I doubt I’ll stick with it then, but I can see the effects of sugar on me, even unrefined sugar.

I’m so happy that I’m not alone in the caving to dates. I figure a teaspoon in 2 servings really isn’t all that much, right? And, really, I might even get 3 servings out of that batch, since I’m not eating much at any one time right now.

Porridge would have been a better word to describe this. It’s much less pudding than a typical rice pudding. But, it is thick and creamy and has that soothing quality of pudding. So, I wasn’t sure what else to call it.

I use pudding and porridge interchangeably, not sure what qualifies one or the other…this recipe looks like both a great pudding and a yummy porridge :) Hope you are feeling better- food poisoning is the worst!

I love the use of different spices in this recipe. I think might be a really nice change from my regular oatmeal recipe. Now, time to get hold of some cream of rice:) Or perhaps I could add the spices into my oatmeal instead!!

I very much like the idea of this recipe. I just don’t know where I would get cream of rice here in Dubai. It has a big Indian community, so I am sure it is there. Does it have an Indian name, by any chance, that I can look out for?